Admittedly, so far the downsides of the acquisition have been few and far between. Instagram is growing like gangbusters and it seems Facebook is trying to stay hands off when it comes to its handling of the service. Really the only downside has been the removal of Twitter integration. But, of course, the meddling has to start sometime, and according to Business Insider that moment isn’t far off.
Facebook VP of Global Marketing Solutions Carolyn Everson confirms that Facebook will “find a way” to monetize Instagram; although she avoided mentioning ads like a QB dodging linebackers, she is, after all, the ad sales chief.

For now we don’t know — or rather they won’t tell us — how or when exactly this “monetizing” strategy will begin playing out, but just about everyone agrees that monetize will likely mean ads.

You just have to wonder if monetization also means means a paid, ad-free version of Instagram is in the works, or if we’ll just come to expect that our Earlybird filter will henceforth come attached to a coffee promo.